Visible shot concentrating projectile for sporting guns



June 28, 1932 M. GAcHAsslN-LAFITE iVISIBLE sHoT CONCENTRATING PROJECTILEFon SPORTING GUNS Filed May 8. 1930 .ausEEEEEEE Md n Pafenfed Jene 2s,1932 .PATENT o1-F1osih MARCEL GACHASIN-LAFIT'R OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUMVISIBLE SHOT GONCENTRATING PROJECTILE FOR SPORTING GUNS .Applicationvle. May 8, 1930, Serial No.' 450,616, and in BelgiumApril 1, 1930.

' This invention relates to improvements in projectiles and refersparticularly to pro j-ectiles containing a charge of lead shot or'-similar material which,V is discharged from 5 the case during the fiightof the projectile.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a projectilelby means of which the path thereof can readily be followed by theperson firing the projectile, lo while a further object of the presentinvention is to provide a projectile adapted for lethal purposes,`whereby the effective range of the shot is increased by ensuring a moredense distribution of the shot charge at a l5 given distance from thegun in comparison with the distribution of shot produced by firing acartridge containing shot.

In accordance with the present invention,

there is provided, to contain the charge of its forward end for thepassage of shot away from the case in combinationl with a forcibly'expanded retarding device associated with and larger than the base ofsaid case. By suitably proportioning the area of the retarding device atthe rear, the size of the grains of shot and the size of the aperture atthe forward end of the case, the projectile may be adapted primarilyeithervfor tracing 1s of such a nature as to be easily visiblethroughout their flight or alternatively as a lethal projectile in whichcase of course, the retardin device may be less visible through- 25 outthe 'ght.

These advantages andl some others will be explained in the ,theoreticalstatement fol- A lowing, A

It is recognized that in the firing of a shot cartridge of the usualtype, there. is produced a sudden blow on the wad which overcomes theinertia of the shot charge and projects Y metre.

urposes in which case the retarding device` takes a spherical form onleaving the barrel and spreads very rapidly after about 35 meterscovering a space of more than a square The individual shot which arefurthest from the direct line of fire, diverge progressively during theflight, with the result that everything which isaimed at and which isnot exactly in the center of the aim, is likely not to be hit by'asuicient number of shot and in the case of animals or birds,eithermissed or uselessly maimed. This has been remedied to `some extentby the choke guns which eii'ect a lengthening of the charge of shot iniiight and prevent undue spreading, thus extending the useful range ofthe shot, but this method increases still more the inconveniences ofdeformation of the shot and of leading 'of the barrel. It i'srecognized,

however, that a Agood choke ensures an advantagel in range of about 10metres over the same shot tired by a smooth gun. p

With the projectile according to the present invention, it is possibleto calculate the various ballistic and mechanical elements` so that thespreading of the shot only commences at a definite distance, forexample, 15 or 20 metres, or even more, from the gun, which will thusensure that a given grouping of the shot is obtained at a distance of 15or 20 metres beyond that which would be obtained with an ordinarycartrid. For example, if a parallel bore gun, w 'ch an Ordinar cartridgefires 245 No. 6 shot into a circle o 0.75 metres in diameter at adistance of 35 metres, the same spreading effect will be attainedvat or55 metres Laccording tothe construction, with the projectile accordingto the present invention. Furthermore, due to the reduction of frictionin the barrel it is possible to obtain this. result by using a smallercharge of powder, with the certainty that none of the shot will fallshort.

Further. it is known that it is impossible with an ordinary cartridge,to tell where the shot has carried with respect to the moving o that theprojectile proper consists of a hol- .lll

low cylindrical case of elastic material, such as rubber, having anintegral hemispherical or pointed head provided with a comparativelyreduced opening at its top and attached at its base to a large, forciblyexpanded retarding device. The hollow projectile is llcd with sportingshot of suitable sizes.

Y The sudden blow which is produced at the moment of discharge, forcesout the projec- -tile and `in overcoming the inertia of the shotcontained therein, the'case is initially pressed against the shot. Inconsequence of this inertia, during the short moment which follows thedischarge, the shots have a tendency to hear against the bottom of theprojectile. During all the passage through the barrel, the projectingedges around the rubber envelope are all that rub against the hard metalof the barrel and consequently the lead shot has no occasion to bedeformed and they allhave the same speed as the hollow envelope. Butafter leaving the barrel, the retarding device opens and tends to slowdown the speed of the projectile; neverthelessthis retarding action only-operates on the light envelope, and the heavier charge of shotmaintaining its indeendent motion moves towards the exit orice. ut heretakes place a very characteristic j phenomenon: the mass of the shotpreserving a greater speed than that of the envelope, but owing to thesmallness of the orifice, there is produced at first a confusion orcongestion .which prevents their exit (similar to that which is producedforV example in the case of apanic in a public hall when all thespectators start at one time towards the only em't) those which are atthe edge Vprevent the exit of the others and are themselves preventedfrom leaving by the pressure which is produced towards the 'centre ofthe opening. It is only at the momentwhen a lnd of order isreestablished, that the opening can be passed through. At this moment,the shots then pass out of the projectile case, which latter continuesat a retarded speed. This exit is more or less rapid and moreY or lessearly, according to the angle of curve of the head of thev projectile,the diameter of theexit orice and the size of the shot. it is evidentthat the more the angle of curve approaches a vright angle, the more theexit of the shot will be retarded, while if the angle is morel obtuse,that is to say, its shape is more pointed, their exit will befecititated. Evidently this ein't will be inuenced also by the thicmessor the rigidity of the material oi the headv of the case, by thediameesencia teJ of the centre hole, by the size of the shot, and by thegreater or lesser retarding eect on the case. ing cartridges, intendedas we have stated for the correction of the aim, it is necessary thatWith the cartridges called tracthe shot only leave the envelope ata'point as, j.

far away as possible from the mouth o the" barrel, and furthermore, whenthe projectile:` lis intended for practice or for correction, it isadvisable that the shot should be harmless;

in this case, a projectile is used with a head of only slightsphericity, with fairly thick and stili Walls, having comparativelysmall 50 metres, thus permitting the person firing.

to observe the trajectory that would have been followed by the charge ofinvisible shot aimed at the same point, the speed ci' this tracingprojectile being calculated to correspond to the mean speed or the shotfrom a sporting gun On the contrary, for lethal projectiles.v the angleoi the head of the case will be more obtuse, the shape of the head beingmore pointed, the thickness and rigidity of the material of such headbeing correspondingly less and the exit hole correspondingly largerbecause the shot are larger and/or have to leave their envelo e earlier.i ln general, for these cartridges t e commencement of the evacuation of'the killing projectile will vary between l0 and 20 metres from the enitof the barrel, thus ensuring a greater useful range of the weaponby 10or 20 metres.

lt is evident that by properly calculating the charge of powder, theforce of the breh- .ing, the conicity of the head of the case, the

nature of the material used, the size of the exit opening and the sizeof the shot which it contains, projectiles suitable for allcircumstances may be made as desired, for example, projectiles suitablefor simply tracing over the whole of the flight, or for tracing over aill@ deiinite range, or again for tracing over e y. very long flight, orstill further for lethal purposes by a rapid liberation of the shot.

after tracing a long iiight.

We will describe below, simply as an eni ample, various forms ofembodying this projectile and its braking device, making lreiterence tothe annexed drawing in which Fig. 1 showsa side view or one form oi Fig.3 is 'a section similar to Fig. 2 oi ahilling projectile loadedl lwithsporting shot;

Fig. 'i shows vin section the projectile hired to a retarding device inunfolded position,

material kept under the rojectile by means of a connectorv and a reatively elastic wad which forces it to open;

Fi 5 shows the manner of loading up the tasse to-introduce it into thetube of the cartridge case; and

Fig. 6 is a section of a loaded cartridge after closing;

Fig. 7 shows the arrangement of a thin layer of fibrous or'lexiblematerial held under the bottom of the projectile lby a spring washer;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 shows the manner in which the projectile thus furnished fits intothe cartridge case, and 4 Fig. 10 is a side view of a variation inconstruction in which the retarding and tracing device is constituted bya small parachute fixed to the bottom of the projectile by cords.

As will be seen fromF1gs. 1, 2 and 3, the projectile proper isconstituted by a cylindrical case 1 having on its periphery severalslight projections or longitudinal or other ribs 2, having fortheirobject to eiiect the guiding of the projectile in the smoothbarrel, and to facilitate the passage through the choke so as not tocause too great a resistance there, and a. thicker bottom or base,preferably reinforced by a washer 3 and provided at the bottom with asmall perforation 6 in which the retarding member may be fixed directlyor indirectly. This hollow case has a hemispherical or pointed head 4,the extremity of whichhas a central opening 5. -This 4case is filledwith 'a charge of shot 7, the

weight and size of the grains of which are j calculated according to theuse for which the projectile is intended.

Figs. 1 and 2 show a projectile which is intended for tracing only, andit will be noted that its head' 4 is more spherical, the walls of thehead are thicker, and the aperture 5 of a smaller diameter and the caseis filled with much finer shot (lead dust), than the lethal projectileshown in Fig. 3.

The retarding device consists essentially of a tassel or tuft, flexibleand elastic, or ointed, formed for example of wool, silk, linen or wovenmaterial, rubber, or even wires or elastic or jointed metal blades, soas to expand compu sorily and be kept expanded after leaving the barrel,notwithstanding the action of the wind or the pressure of air whichshould tend to close it, as in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. If the material of'this retarding device is not sufiiciently'resilient in itself, it may bekept unfolded by a mechanical device such as that shown in Figs. 7 and8, or it may be formed by a kind of parachute asin Fig. 10.

The tuft according to Fig. 4, is made of threads of silk or of twistedwool'8, in which may be incorporateda numberof steel wires and rests onan elastic felt pad` 9 preferably having a diameter slightly larger thanthe internal diameter of the cartridge case-11, Fig. 6. This pad 9 andthe tuft 8 are traversed by a connecting piece 10, for example,

of twine which connects them together, pass-r ing through the hole 6 ofthe washer 3. To introduce this projectile in the cartridge case, thethreads are collected towards the pro jectile as seen in Fig. 5, and thepad 9, which contracts sufficiently, is pushed into the case; by thepressure on the projectile during closing, the wad'9 and the tuft 8 aremore or less compressed but expand on passing out of the barrel when theshot is fired.. In flight, the air has even a tendency to throw back toomany of the threads of the tuft which would destroy its visibility andits braking action; the purpose of the flexible pad 9 is therefore, toprevent them from closing together, and it is for the same purpose thatit is useful to'mix a few steel wires with the wool threads.

In the variation according to Figs. 7, 8, and 9, the tuft 8 is presumedto be made of hair or bristle and the pad 9 which supports it iscomposed of two layers of felt and cloth between which is held in asuitable manner a star or cross 11 cut from a thin steel spring plate.After the introduction into the cartridge case, as shown in Fig. 8, thearms of this cross 11 are slightly curvedI towards the projectile andthe tuft 8 is located in the hollow thus formed. On forming, these armssupport the wad 9 and prevent the tuft from yielding too much to theaction of the alr.

Finally, in Fig. 10, the tuft is replaced by .a hollowed member 12 ofwoven material,

rubber, or other material fixed to the projectile by anumber of cords10, and opening as a parachute under the action of the wind. It isevident that numerous variations may be made without departing from theinvention, and that any suitable material may be used for making theparts which are indicated under the general'term of tuft and pad, inorder not to lengthen the description by enumerations. For example, awasher of woven material or of rubber might be used of a diametersuiicient to form a bell orskirt, and a wad consisting of a block ofrubber or a sprin device.

Furthermore, t e elements used may be lire-proof, painted, dyed, orVrendered phosphorescent, luminous, or brilliant to ensure the visibilltyof the retardingrand marking device under all atmospheric conditions.

` Finally it should be noted that the invention consists in a visibleprojectile loaded withr shot for regulating and increasing the range,particularly for sporting guns, characterized by a hollow enveloperetarded by an expanding'device, this projectileY and this brakingdevice vbeing calculated in. such a manner that the charge of shot onlyleaves 'it at a. definite distance, thus permitting the manufacture asdesired of experimental projectiles or tracing. projectiles, or killingprojectiles ensuring a greater range and a better I grouping of theshot- I claim: y

l. In a projectile for sporting guns, the combination with anon-rigidcase containing a charge of shot and having a hemispherical forward endand a restricted aperture atv said forward end, of an expandible-retarding device associated with vthe rear of said case.

2. In a projectile 'for sporting guns, the combination with a non-rigidcase and a charge of lead shot or dust contained there, said 'casehaving a restricted exit aperture for said shot at theforward end, of aforcibly expanded retarding device having a diameter larger than thebase of the case and operatively connected thereto.

3. In a projectile as set forth in claim l where the degree of conicityof the case head and the relative proportions of the retarding deviceareproportioned whereby the projectile maybe employed as a tracerprojectile or asa lethal projectile. Y

4. A projectile as set forth in claim l in which the retarding deviceconsists of a tuft of textile material secured to a pad of elastic felthaving a relative diameter larger than the bottom of the case andoperatively connected to the rear of said case.

5. A projectile as set forth in claim 2 wherein a resilient material isincorporated with the tuft of textile material whereby to prevent thetuft from closing together upon the passage ofthe projectile through theair during its flight. j

6. A projectile as set forth in claim l in which the retarding devicecomprises a parachute-like element opening under the pressure of air orwind when said case is fired from a gun.

7. A projectile as set forth in claim l in which the retarding device isof a larger size than that of the base of the case so as to be visibleduring the flight of the case in order .that the projectile may be usedfor tracing tween two layers of felt within the shot case andcooperatively connected to said device whereby the i ht of saidprojectile can'be v followed after ring from a gun.

10. In a projectilehaving a cartridge case and containing layers ofexplosive material therein, a case within said cartridge containing shottherein and having a rounded tapering forward end with an exit openingat the

